AKRON - His biggest concern, Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Gary Teel said, was the play of Norwell's guards.
As it turns out, it was the guard tandem of Valley's Chelsy Rhoades and Hannah Krueger that did in Norwell Saturday night in the championship game of the Class 3A Tippecanoe Valley Sectional.
Led by a combined 34 pionts, 17 rebounds and eight steals from Rhoades and Krueger, the Vikings defeated the Knights 44-36.
Norwell finished its season with a 15-8 record, while Valley improved to 14-8 and advanced to Saturday's Peru Regional.
"My biggest concern was their guard play and their three-point shooters," Teel said of Norwell. "One night (Allee) Donaghy can hurt you, the next night it's (Carlee) Bauermeister. We tried to push them out on the floor with our defensive pressure and keep the ball out of the middle."
Bauermeister finished the game 5 of 13 from the field, 2 of 4 from three-point range, and 2 of 5 from the charity stripe for 14 points.
Donaghy was 2 of 8 from the field, 0 of 3 from the arc, and 1 of 2 from the free throw line for five points.
Norwell's guard tandem was clearly outdone by the duo of Rhoades and Krueger, and because of it, the Vikings won their second straight sectional championship and fifth in the past six years.
Valley and Norwell have met in the sectional championship game the past three seasons, with the Knights winning 71-70 two years ago and the Vikings pulling out a 36-35 win last year.
"When you get in these situations, you need senior leadership," said Teel. "And we have three great seniors. Chelsy brought her A+ game tonight. She did an oustanding job. We didn't take her off the floor once. She's been in this situation before. She was the 2004 sectional championship team when she was a freshman."
Rhoades finished the evening with a game-high 18 points. She was 5 of 10 from the field, 2 of 5 from three-point range, and 6 of 6 from the charity stripe. She also pulled down eight rebounds and made two steals.
Rachel Sitts, another Valley senior, was 1 of 1 from the field for two points and pulled down two rebounds. Kayla Newman, Valley's third senior, was 0 of 2 from the field and didn't score, but made three steals and pulled down three rebounds.
While Sitts and Newman, both starters, did other things to help the team, Krueger helped pick up the scoring slack.
The 5-foot-9 junior finished the game 4 of 6 from the field and 8 of 10 from the free throw line for 16 points. She also pulled down nine rebounds, made six steals and blocked three shots.
"Hannah had an outstanding game," said Teel. "She did a good job with dribble penetration and was able to find open teammates. She was the Area Player of the Year and she showed why."
Sophomores Stacie Hoffman, Melody Hoffer and Whitney Sparkman rounded out the Valley scoring attack with two points each.
Sparkman left the game in the second half after hitting her head on the floor after making contact with a Norwell player.
"She took a charge and hit her head on the floor," Teel said of his sophomore, who tallied 10 points and nine rebounds in Friday's semifinal win against Fort Wayne Wayne. "Hopefully it's not a concussion and she can play in the regional."
Valley will play Fort Wayne Concordia (15-7) Saturday at noon. Concordia advanced to the regional by beating defending state champion and second-ranked Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 41-38 in the championship game of the Leo Sectional.
Eighth-ranked Wawasee (19-3) will play Elwood (18-5) in the first semifinal game.
Wawasee advanced by beating Northridge 36-30 in the championship game of the Angola Sectional, while Elwood beat Jay County 68-48 to win the Mississinewa Sectional.
En route to winning the sectional championship, Valley led 10-4 after the first quarter of play and 20-16 at halftime.
Norwell made just one field goal in the first quarter, while Rhoades scored eight points in the first eight minutes.
The Knights, who tied the game three times in the third quarter, got as close as two points, 32-30, in the fourth quarter but the Vikings were able to pull away.
Valley used a 9-2 run to stretch their advantage to 41-32, a deficit Norwell couldn't overcome.
"I'm very proud of the kids," said Teel. "We're going to enjoy this one, and then we're going to go to work and get ready for the regional."
T. VALLEY 44, NORWELL 36
Norwell 4 12 13 7 - 36
Valley 10 10 12 12 - 44
Norwell FG FT R S Pts.
* Brmster 5-13 2-5 4 1 14
* Dial 1-3 1-2 2 2 3
* Donaghy 2-8 1-2 5 1 5
* Plummer 0-6 2-2 4 1 2
* Vogel 2-7 1-2 9 1 5
Davis 0-1 1-2 1 0 1
Chaney 1-5 4-6 4 1 6
Totals 11-43 12-21 29 7 36
Valley FG FT R S Pts.
* Newman 0-2 0-0 2 3 0
* Rhoades 5-10 6-6 8 2 18
* Krueger 4-6 8-10 9 6 16
* Hoffman 1-7 0-2 2 0 2
* Sitts 1-1 0-0 2 0 2
Vogel 0-1 2-2 2 0 2
Hoffer 1-2 0-3 1 0 2
Sparkman 1-2 0-0 1 0 2
Totals 13-31 16-23 27 11 44
Three-point goals - Norwell 2-13 (Bauermeister 2-4, Plummer 0-4, Donaghy 0-3, Dial 0-1, Davis 0-1), Valley 2-7 (Rhoades 2-5, Hoffman 0-2). Turnovers - Norwell 20, Valley 19. Fouls - Norwell 16, Valley 15. Fouled out - Dial, Hoffman
